Following Tradition
by Uh.yeah
Summary: The Doctor demonstrates his knowledge of earth customs. At Christmas... NineRose


So here's another random story. Probably comes from my need of a Doctor Who watching friend. All this obsessing in silence is killing me. I really ought to go join a forum or something. Dunno why I decided on a Christmas story; bit unseasonable, really. But there you go. I've been trying to put this up for ages, but they deleted my other random story, so I got banned for a bit. And although that's probably a good thing, I'm still not entirely sure why. Och well.

**Disclaimer**: The BBC owns Doctor Who. I don't and never will. Thanks for bringing it up.

**Spoilers**: Up to the Doctor Dances, I guess.

* * *

Rose sat comfortably in the armchair, watching the Doctor with obvious amusement. Jack had gone out for a few days to meet a 'friend' - namely a young guy they'd met in the huge hypergalatic shopping mall -and Rose was enjoying the fact that it was just her and the Doctor again.

"Face it, Doctor, you're never going to fix it."

He paused in the complicated rearrangement of some wires to glare at Rose, eyebrows raised.

"I think I'm perfectly capable of fixing my own time machine."

"How are you supposed to fix something when it's not even broken?"

"Oh, and I suppose you'd know if it was broken or not," he challenged.

"Well there's nothing wrong with it, is there?"

He shrugged his shoulders and sighed, light-heartedly, "Just what I'd expect from a human."

"Oi," she said lazily, from the corner, "No more species insults, if you don't mind. It just shows that you're frustrated and don't know what you're doing."

"Hey, Rose," called the Doctor from where he'd slid himself into a small space under the control point, "Why don't you go to bed or something?"

"You trying to get rid of me?" she asked, pretending to be insulted.

"Er, yes."

"Charming. You're so good at making me feel appreciated, Doctor."

"Well, I like to make an effort. Seriously, though, why don't you go get some sleep? You haven't slept properly in a while. Can't have you passing out in the middle of escaping death or something."

"Nah, I'm fine," she answered casually, secretly touched by his concern, "I don't mind sitting here."

She leant further back into the well worn chair and curled her legs up under her. He'd dragged the chair in especially for her. She got the feeling that he quite liked having the company while he worked, and for her part, she quite enjoyed watching him. Even if she couldn't understand a single word he said.

"Fantastic!" he cried, happily, jumping up from the floor.

"What?" she asked sleepily, sitting forward, "Did you managed to screw something in properly?"

"Better than that," he said, ignoring her snide comment, "I've successfully reconfigured the central supply unit and all the corresponding outlets."

"And in plain English, that would mean…?" she asked, staring pointedly up at him.

"You won't have to wait so long for hot water when you have a shower," he announced, beaming at her.

She snorted. "That's what you've been labouring over for…" she consulted her phone, "seven hours and thirty minutes?"

"You could at least try and be grateful," he said, slightly offended.

Rose didn't answer; she was too busy frowning down at the screen of her phone.

"That's weird," she stated simply, pressing a few buttons, "I've got a text."

"Really?" he asked, unconcernedly, walking over and perching on the arm of the chair, "That is weird. Especially considering it's a fully functioning phone. Or did you doubt that it worked properly, because I fixed it up?"

"Of course I didn't doubt that it worked," she said honestly, looking up into his eyes for a moment, "It's just that I haven't had a message or anything from anyone since… we've been away."

He watched her fondly as she scrolled down through the message. "And what does it say, my little ape?"

She glared at him half heartedly, before returning to the message and smiling. He liked it when she smiled, he thought idly to himself.

"It's from my mate, Soph. It's…oh," she looked up quickly at the Doctor, "it's Christmas!"

He smiled back at her. "Oh. Merry Christmas!" He was clearly pretty disinterested.

"And Soph's just got married," she shook her head happily, "And she's having a Christmas party to celebrate…." She looked beseechingly up at the Doctor.

He continued smiling, "That's nice."

"Doctor…" She widened her eyes and gave him a puppy dog look, "Perhaps we could…"

"Oh, no," he interrupted as soon as he realised what she was thinking, "I told you, I don't do domestic. And celebrating some human's marriage is definitely bordering on the domestic. Wouldn't you rather go visit another planet? I know a great place on the Eastern side of-"

He stopped his panicked ramblings when he saw the look on Rose's face.

"But it's Christmas," she said pleadingly, "I love Christmas."

"Fine," he sighed as he looked into her round, hopeful eyes and realised that he really couldn't say no, "Ok, when is it?"

She flashed him a huge smile that almost made giving in worth it. Then she gave him a quick, affectionate hug that removed any doubt he'd had.

"Thanks," she said, grinning as she released him, "It's Christmas, 2006."

"Ok," he said, feigning a grumble, trying to hide a grin at her simple happiness, "I'll go set it up now. You better go change," he called over his shoulder as he marched over to the controls, muttering, "Knew I should never have fixed that phone."

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When Rose re-entered the control room, about an hour later, the Doctor was slumped in the armchair, absently mindedly fiddling with the cuffs of his leather jacket.

She paused before she made her presence known to him – she couldn't recall the last time she'd seen him sitting still and not really doing anything.

"Ready to go?" she asked cheerfully, from the doorway.

"About time t-" He stopped as he looked up at her properly.

"What?" she asked, nervously, as he didn't say anything, "I wasn't sure about it, actually," she stared doubtfully down at the black dress she was wearing. In the wardrobe she'd thought it looked quite good- tight in all the right places, but still avoided looking slutty. Now, as she looked back up at the Doctor's unreadable face, she wasn't so sure, "D'you think it's too much?"

"What do you mean, 'too much'?" he asked, seeming to regain control of himself again, "It's great, you're great; you look great. Now," he said as he stood up and held out his hand, "Shall we get to this human party?"

Beaming, she walked carefully over in her high heels and took his hand, their fingers linking neatly together. As they walked together hand in hand, along the streetlamp lit pavement, he told her in great detail of exactly fifteen things he'd rather be doing than going to this party. She just grinned and let him talk. Judging by the looks he kept giving her, he was having more fun than he was letting on.

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"This it?" he asked, disbelievingly as they stared at the house in front of them. There were balloons decorating the small porch area and loud, distasteful music was blaring out.

"Yep," she said, laughing as she started pulling him towards the guy on the door. Having someone at the door was a new addition to the kind of parties Soph usually threw, but Rose guessed she'd changed somewhat since she's last seen her.

"Ok," he said resignedly, "but you better not be expecting any Christmas presents after this."

"What?" she said disappointedly as they stopped in front of the door, "No presents? That's not fair."

"Rose," he warned, "_This_ is your Christmas present. Although," he added, thoughtfully, "you should really be thinking about what you're going to give _me_."

"Oh, don't worry," she answered, grinning mischievously up at him, "I'll think of something."

"Right, ok, uh…" said the Doctor, quickly turning his attention to the guy by the door, "We're here for the party," he said, grimacing slightly as he said it.

Rose rolled her eyes, "Rose Tyler," she said, "Should be on the list. And this," she said, elbowing the Doctor in the sides, "is my plus one." She grinned up at him, liking the fact that for once, she was in control.

"Rose?" asked a guy coming out the door, "Is that you? Rose Tyler! Where've you been? It's me, Tom…"

"I've been... travelling," answered Rose, vaguely, then brightening as she remembered, "Oh Tom! Hey, how are you?"

"I'm fine – just running off to get some more booze. You look great, by the way."

"Thanks," she answered, blushing slightly as she acknowledged the compliment.

"How long are you staying here for? I mean, are you back?" Tom looked at the Doctor out the corner of his eye, "Because I was wondering, if you're free some time, maybe we could-"

"Ok," said the Doctor, possessively grabbing Rose hand, "We really have to get to the party now. Nice talking, though," he said, nodding curtly at Tom before marching off.

"See you later, maybe, yeah?" called Rose over her shoulder, as she let herself be dragged off by the Doctor.

Once they were inside, she started laughing. "Honestly, could you be any more jealous?"

"Jealous? Me? Nah," he said, staring down at her, "He was just a bit…"

"Pretty?" filled in Rose, helpfully.

"Maybe a bit," confessed the Doctor. "Come on then," he said, clearing his throat, "Let's go join the party."

They were standing in the small porch, just inside the doorway and as he spoke, he took Rose's hand again and opened the door that would lead them into the house itself. Rose stepped eagerly forward, looking forward to having this one evening to catch up with her friends. But as she tried to move completely through the doorway, the Doctor's hand gripped hers tightly and held her back. She stopped and turned to face him, puzzled. She had got him this far and they were not leaving without at least looking in on the party.

"Funny customs, you humans have," he said thoughtfully, looking down at Rose, a wicked glint in his eye.

"Huh?" she asked, intelligently, as she stood opposite him in the doorway.

"You know," he said, motioning upwards with a jerk of his head.

Rose followed his eyes and felt her heart start to beat twice as fast, as she registered the focus of his gaze; mistletoe.

And then, before her brain could fully process the thought of mistletoe and the Doctor together, his lips landed on hers. Sweet and firm, they gently caressed her lips in a kiss that he seemed to... mean? Rose wasn't sure. She couldn't think straight. She didn't even want to think straight.

All too soon, the Doctor pulled away and stood smiling down at her. It wasn't the usual manic grin, she'd come to love, but a warm and fond smile that she decided she liked just as much. She smiled sunnily back, slightly dazed.

"Merry Christmas," he said cheerfully, then turned and marched purposefully through the doorway.

Rose paused, still standing beneath the innocent plant that had managed to wield so much power. She groaned inwardly. He'd done it again. It was like that dancing thing; one minute they were close – so close it almost hurt – and the next no acknowledgement of it whatsoever. It did her head in.

"You coming or what?" zsked the Doctor with a smile, as he paused in the hallway, holding two glasses in his hands.

Rose hesitated a moment longer. She wasn't all too sure she wanted to go to the party anymore…

"For God's sake, Rose," he called, "Come on. You're not going to make me face this alone, are you?"

"Of course not," she said smoothly as she walked over to his side, "You couldn't handle it. Where'd you get the drinks?" she asked, as she accepted one of the glasses.

"Rose," he said, eyeing her curiously, "it's a party. I thought that was what humans did at parties."

"What, drink?"

"Yeah," he answered simply, "same on lots of planets. Although I must admit, I think the _Crathenion_ party objective is a lot more interesting."

"Really?" she asked, grinning slightly, "And what would that be?"

"I'd tell you, but I'm not sure you're old enough," he said raising his eyebrows.

She shook her head, reprovingly and took a sip of her drink. She'd get it out of him later.

"Come on," she said, nodding her head in the direction of the lounge, "Looks like all the action's in there. It'll be nice to see Soph again."

As they wandered over to the room that was pulsing with music and dancing people, Rose wasn't sure if she was all that desperate to see her friends. The Doctor was by her side and as had been proved in every way on one hundred different planets; all the action was definitely with him.

* * *

Hmmm. It's such a relief to finally get this written down. Although I'm not sure if it worked out how I wanted it. And I hate the last line. But, never mind. 

Mind telling me what you think?


End file.
